Lili Tales

She's starting to really vocalize and is squealing more than ever! She loves to kick and is standing very well. We are still working with her Occupational Therapist to strengthen her upper body. She's such a joy and such a happy baby! She smiles and uses her vocal cords like crazy!

We've been using her Johnny Jump Up and she loves it! I played guitar and sang to her while she jumped around... it was great!

Lili is continuing to use her voice. Now she is saying vowels and very loudly I might add! She is sitting up with the help of her arms unassisted. Lili also likes to try and sit up from a lying position. She is very strong! Her smiles and laughing keep us going! She's a miracle...

Lili has found her feet and has been putting them into her mouth! She has also given us a scare by rolling off of the couch! Well, we know she can roll over now... luckily she's a tough chic! Mom cried, of course! Gee... I can see things aren't gonna be easy for me ever again, eh? I wouldn't ask for anything else!

Lili is full of energy!  Her daddy makes her laugh and it is ridiculously cute!  She loves to play, giggle and make people laugh with her.  Lili sits up very nicely, but still has a little of the round bottom syndrome.  She's also been lying on her stomach more.  She stands on all fours and stands on two feet with someone only to balance her.  She's doing wonderfully and we love her very much! 

It's early December (2003) and Lili is doing wonderfully!  She has an attitude and shows it!  Lili is sitting up by herself, only tipping over once in a great while.  She also stands up holding onto the couch.  I'm thinking she's gonna be crawling by Christmas!

December 17th... here's Lili...z c c mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm                   llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll,                                                            c  xfxc cc           fffffffffffffffffffffffffcx
that is how well she types... comin' along!  Anyway, Lili and Mommy had a great visit in Chicago.  She is rolling all over the place - will be crawling in no time!  She holds herself up standing... let's see what else?  She likes petting animals, screams when she doesn't like what she is doing... sits fabulously... says bababa... is VERY curious... I'm sure there is stuff I'm forgetting.  We're doing great and she loves the Christmas tree!  Take care and happy holidays!

December 30th... Lili had a great first christmas.  She did a fabulous job of unwrapping and loves all of her gifts!  She likes the lights on the tree, too!  Lili had a great time on Santa's lap, didn't blink an eye... I think she tought he was grandpa!  She is soooo close to crawling - she's going backwards and getting very frustrated!  Soon, very soon!  She is getting her first tooth!  She didn't sleep too well for a couple of nights, but she's getting better.  It'll be out in no time.  Lili and I are also planning a trip to California.  We're going to see Lili's Auntie Michelle and Uncle Cyrus!  Yippie!  Let's pray she likes airplanes!!!  That's about it for now!  Hope everyone had a wonderful holdiay.  Peace and Love to you all!

January 2, 2004... Lili crawled today!  She is still in the "I've almost got it stage," but she's comin' along!  Pretty exciting... who ever thought she'd be crawling?  She is the light of my life!  Happy New Year everyone.  Wow!  2003 sure was a tough year for us.  I'm hoping we get through 2004 without too much stress.  She'll be getting her kidney this year... pretty wild, eh?  Thanks for all of your support.  Peace and Love!

Jan. 9th, 2004... Guess who went on an airplane for the first time?  Yes... Miss Lili!  We're in San Francisco visiting my sister, Michelle, her husband, Cyrus, and little baby Leili (still in-utero!).  Lili did great on the plane!  She's teething from the two bottom teeth she's getting and the time difference is messing us up a bit.  Luckily Grandma Berger is here, too!  She's a huge help!  Another first... LILI SAID HER FIRST WORD... Mama!!!  Way to go Lilster!!!  We'll be returning on Monday and I'm sure her Daddy is looking forward to it!  Peace and Love to you all!: )

January 22, 2004... Lili is getting better at crawling and pulls herself up on everything!  We're in trouble!!!  She is one strong and brave girl!

February 17, 2004... Boy we are in trouble!  Lili has figured out how to get around the house, but not how to take her feeding pump along.  It's pretty tricky to keep up with her!  She's walking along the couch and wants to stand whenever possible.  At this rate she'll be walking in to get her kidney transplant!!!  And wowsers can she scream!  I'm hoping she gets it out of her system now instead of when she's two... or in high school!!!

March 2, 2004... Lili has stopped the screaming, for the most part, and now she growls... it's pretty funny!  She started clapping her hands a week ago - it's sooo cute!  She has also been standing unassisted!  She walks with her push toy all of the time and LOVES to cruise on the couch!  She'll be walking in no time!  And she says "Mama!"  So sweet!  xoxox

March 5, 2004... When you say, "Yea!!!" Lili claps her hands!  It's the cutest thing EVER!!!

March 24, 2004... Lili says "Mama" all the time!!!  She also just said "Dada."  She laughs and pulls her food pump around in the cart her Grandpa Berger made for her.  It's a site to see!  She's walking around with her walker and I'm sure be taking her own first steps before too long... Yikes!!!  Peace and Love to you all!!! xoxo

April 11, 2004... Geez, Lili loves to crawl around, especially after the animals!  She LOVES Grandma and Grandpa's dog and cat.  She can't get enough of 'em!  She is also standing more on her own a bit.  She's been imitating more.  Aaron patted Kate on the back and Lili copied him.  It was the cutest thing EVER!  xoxoxo

April 29, Lili is standing a lot more on her own.  I'm sure once she has her transplant she will be walking outta that hospital!  She says Momma ALL the time and has just started saying "Me!"  Multiple times, of course!  I wonder who she learned that from?  She pulls her cart around and is getting into the cupboards - time for the safety locks!  She LOVES the Wiggles and dances like crazy.  Lili's playing the guitar and the tamborine and laughs a lot.  She's getting lots of hair and is starting to look more like a little girl.  She's the sweetest baby EVER!!! xoxoxo

May 15... Lili blew me a kiss yesterday when I was dropping her off at daycare.  She started 12 hours of daycare/week - 3 days for 4 hours.  I drop her off then go work out.  I wanna be in shape for surgery.  Lili has a great time and loves playing with the other kids.  She said baby the other day, too.  She'll be runnin' around in no time!

May 27... Lili has learned how to say Kitty!  She's so adorable and loves animals and kids.  She grunts and shakes when she sees them.  She also laughs and shreks a lot!  Lili also took her first unassisted step yesterday!  Yippie for Lili - trouble for the rest of us!!!

June 15th... Lili is saying Kitty Kat all of the time!  She says mama and dada and trying ball.  She points at things when she wants them and especially when she wants to go outside!  She LOVES being outside!  She is up and about and pulling her food cart already and says Kitty Kat when she sees them on TV, in books, or in real life.  She cracks us up ALL of the time!  I hope ya'll get to see her soon.  She adds something special to your day - she does mine everyday!

June 22nd... Lili said "Dog" the other day.  Actually it was in front of the news team for the first time!  She just keeps doing new things everyday!  She's a hoot!!!

July 14, 2004... It's been a while and Lili is REALLY doing new things!  She's so busy all of the time!!!  She took her first step May 26th and now she is steppin' like crazy!  I'm starting to understand how busy I'm gonna be chasing her around.  She is still on her feeding tube, so that's been quite tricky, but we're gonna start therapy on Monday!!!  I'm hoping we can get her to eat before too long.  Lili is also doing "the fishy" (imitating fish movement), says duck, nana, and her own versions of grandma and grandpa.  It seems she's doing new things everyday!  She wants someone to pick her up and then points to go outside.  She loves it outside!  Lili is also learning to be funny!  She is hilarious!  Oh... she also has gotten FOUR teeth on top.  She's a joy to hang out with... we're just hoping the mechanical things (feeding tube, medications, etc.) will become less and less so it is easier to just enjoy being with Lili!!! She is also waving to EVERYONE and says "Bye-bye."  It's wonderful to have a child who makes people smile.

September 2, 2004... We have recently moved to Ypsilanti and are settling in little by little. I just started work and school and Lili has started a new daycare and in home care taker. So far so good! Lili is doing so many new things!!! She's practically running and hardly crawls anymore. She roars like a lion, mmmmms like a cow (doesn't quite have the oooooo part yet!), sniffs when she sees flowers, does sounds like a monkey, so many things! She just started standing in one place and turns around in circles until she falls down! Yesterday she brought me her shoes and pointed at the door! She can't get enough of being outside!!! Lili's gotten molars, so she's getting quite the collection of teeth. She's such a joy to hang out with... she's a wonderful soul!

September 14, 2004... Lili's daddy taught her how to sssssss like a snake! It's very cute! She's also getting into EVERYTHING! She likes to unplug things and then try to plug them back in. She's also hitting and scratching faces prefaced or followed by "Ow!" She sure is something!!!

October 15... Lili is doing all sorts of things! She's getting extremely good at animal noises and is so VERY smart. I hate to brag, but she's BRILLIANT!!! Lili got her first time out at daycare for getting into a fight with another child. We've got our hands full!!!

December 19, 2004... Lili is as spunky as ever!  She's still hitting a bit, we're working on it!  She's tasting things, but hasn't quite started swallowing yet.  It's a slow process.  She's getting more words and perfecting her animal noises.  She pulls her food cart around and is now running with it.  She takes off running so quickly it either pulls the bag right outta the cart or it flips over and she pulls it across the floor.  I think Gramps and I might have to update the Toddler Food Carrier.  Maybe this could be Stage II.  I took her to see Santa and she wasn't too thrilled.  She didn't cry, but would NOT get on his lap.  I sat next to him and she sat on my lap, but as far away from Santa as she could get.  She's amazing, beautiful, healthy, challenging, smart, gee - I could go on and on!!!  If you haven't seen her in a while, I hope you can soon.  Peace and Love to you all.  Happy Holidays!

January 28, 2005... Lili isn't hitting as much, I think it was a phase, yippie! She is talking a lot more and running all over the place. She knows were her knees are and is hilarious when she shows you! Lili was also in her first professional photo shoot! We were at Mott one day and they were shooting for a new campaign to get nurses. Lili was running around, charming everyone, and they asked if they could take pictures of her. Gee? Yes! Then they asked if they could use her in the shoot. Well... Yes! She was great! Lili is a natural entertainer. She had everyone laughing and cheering. I'll let you know if they are in print anywhere and let me know if you see them anywhere. They said she could be on a billboard! Funny!!!

February 2, 2005... Lili is doing all sorts of new things! She will do a silly move to show you where her knees are! She says "Ribbit" for a frog now and just yesterday said the number 2! She has some sort of accent when she says it... very funny!

April 25, 2005... So many things... so many words!!!  She likes to sing "La la la la la" and sings other songs.  She plays harmonica, whistles, a kazoo, tamborine, among other things.  She likes to dance and play Ring around the Rosie.  She mimics EVERYTHING and loves to check herself out in the mirror!  Lili is recognizing some numbers and letters.  Her vocabulary has tripled and she has used the signs for 'more' 'thank you' and 'please' for a couple of months now.  She's thinned out and gotten taller.  She is just AMAZING!!!

May 11, 2005... Lili is doing so much.  She's talking and repeating EVERYTHING!!!  She learns something new everyday!  She started calling "Mom" from other rooms.  She really thinks its something great!  I actually love it right now, but I'm sure in a few years I'll be tired of it... maybe I can just remember these days and enjoy it!  She's such a sweetie, but is SURELY testing her ground.  She's two and getting older every day.  I cherish her.

May 26, 2005... The jungle gym is in trouble!  Lili is starting to climb up the bars and wants to be outside ALL the time!  Lili also likes to say "Hello" and "Ba-Bye" while waving to people, animals, bugs, cars, almost anything.  It's very cute to see her waving and saying hello to spiders!  She's amazing!

June 3, 2005... Lili can count to 10!  She sings with the radio, especially her Seaseme Street CD!  She dances around everywhere and whenever she can!  Her energy is unending!  Her vocabulary is multipling and she is such a charmer.  Look out boys!!!

July 15, 2005... Energy and Attitude!  Where does she get it?  Lili is singing her ABC's and Itsy Bitsy Spider.  She says "cock" instead of "truck" just like her Uncle Jeff!  She knows the words to songs on her CD and sings along with The Sound of Music's MY FAORITE THINGS and one Grandma made popular DO RE MI!  It's sooooo cute! 

August 18, 2005... Lili's healing from surgery, but she's still running and keeping me (and anyone around) VERY busy!!!  She's singing more words and dancing around all the time.  She is hooked on Blues Clues right now, and loves to watch The Sound of Music!  But when she's in the hospital she still loves Nemo!  We are very blessed!

September 5... Lili likes to throw things in garbage.  I heard her throwing something away the other day and asked her about it.  She ran away and I could see her naked butt.  I looked in and saw that she had taken her diaper off and thrown it in the garbage!  She is also singing all the songs in The Sound of Music - obsessed!  I'm glad I like it!  Other news... Lili's daddy, Bruce, is in New Orleans right now helping the victims of Hurrican Katrina.  We're very proud of him and wish we could go and help, too.   God bless them all! 

September 16, 2005... Lili rode a horse at Meijer the other day.  She had become deathly afraid of them, but got on it one day and rode it like a pro!  I kept trying everytime and it finally worked.  Now I probably won't be able to go without her wanting to get on it!  Isn't life funny!?!?! 
Bruce is back from New Orleans.  He helped a lot of people and got to hand out with Wes Anderson and Wynton Marsalis one night.  What a once in a lifetime experience... all of it!  We're glad he's home.

October 28, 2005... Lili is still quite obsessed with The Sound Of Music.  It has become legendary.  She sings and dances to all of the songs!  She is also addicted to Blues Clues and Dora right now.  "Dora again!  Blue again!  Puppets again!"  She's known the alphabet for sometime now and can count to 15.  We got home the other day and I could tell she learned a new word.  I dropped her diaper bag, her cup flew out and she got a little formula on her dress.  She said, "Oh... a paper towel.  A paper towel!"  Then she had popsicle (favorite food besides ketchup and ice cream) all over her high chair tray and she said, "Dirty!  Wipe with paper towel!"  It was very amusing!  She's so sweet, smart and VERY funny!  We are extremely blessed!

November 1, 2005...Lili is now tasting EVERYTHING!  She loves ketchup, popsicles, ice cream, hummus, peanut butter, suckers... anything that she can lick and doesn't have to chew - she isn't there on textures and chewing yet.  She doesn't take spoonfuls, but does take LOTS of tastes.  She is also drinking most of her boluses during the day.  She usually gets 5 boluses a day and today she drank 4 of them!  That means we don't have to hook the tube up if she drinks it!  She'll still be on the tube overnight for a while.  We're very proud, very happy and very thankful.  Baby steps!
Lili is REALLY into The Sound of Music, singing all of the songs and dancing around, Dora, Strawberry Shortcake, painting, reading and making anyone in her presence laugh.  She does have quite an attitude when she wants to!
Oh... I got her some toothpaste yesterday.  She has NEVER let anyone put ANYTHING into her mouth before without a fight.  Children with food aversions are extremely protective  of their mouths.  Lili has used her toothbrush before but only on the front bottom teeth and would never allow anyone else to try.  Tonight I put the paste on her brush and she started brushing as usual.  I asked her if I could show her how to brush her teeth and she handed me the toothbrush.  She tilted her head back and opened her mouth, so I went for it!  I started with the front teeth and she let me brush all of her teeth!  I was soooo excited!  It is a HUGE step!  She's gonna be eating Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in no time!
Thank you all for your love and support... it is wonderful!

December 9, 2005... Lili is really eating things now.  No chewing, nothing besides smooth things, but really going to town.  She eats a lot!  Another thing Lili has been doing is having her dolls talk to me.  She holds them facing me and says, "What are you doing?" and shakes them while she talks.  I answer them and she says, "Oh" or "Ok."  It's super cute.  She also talks to her dolls.  Lili is such a character.  She does have quite a temper... not sure where she gets it!!!  Hopefully you'll get to see her over the holidays.  We love you all!

February 16, 2005... It's been a while, sorry.  Lili is doing wonderfully!  She's talking all of the time.  She has her animals have conversations - very funny!  Lili is obsessed with having Tea Parties now.  Her table and tea set get a lot of use!  She still loves Strawberry Shortcake and SpongeBob SquarePants.  We started the potty training process this week.  It was Wednesday and she hadn't gone in the potty for me yet.  She'd gone for Norma, her nurse, and Pam, her day caregiver, but not for me.  Typical... so I'm hearing!  Anyway, Wednesday night I put her on the potty and she started going.  I was so excited - apparently more than she was.  I was cheering and jumping and yeahing... she looks up at me, scrunches her face and yells, "Stop It!"  So I did and began laughing.  It was so funny!  She's hilarious!

March 10, 2006... The potty is going well - she still has so much fluid intake that it's difficult to keep her on the potty every time she has to go - it's A LOT!  She has a couple new sayings lately.  The first, "Stop singing, Dude!" The second is when one of us has the hiccups.  I had the hiccups the other day and I was going to make a turkey sandwich.  Now whenever either of us has the hiccups she says, "You/I need a turkey sandwich!"  When we were visiting Ga and Papa the other week-end, Papa set up a little pop-up tent in the house for Lils to play in.  I was inside the tent with her, Ga was outside of the tent and Lili asked Ga, "Do you want to come in and party?"  She's hilarious!!!  Lili got a new toddler bed the other day.  I heard something around 10pm the other night.  I went in and she was having a late-night tea party!  She usually stays in bed at night and is now able to get up by herself in the morning.  Oh - she has been off of her overnight feedings for a couple weeks now.  It is AWESOME!!!  You can check out her medical updates for more info. She entertains and keeps growing and developing.  I am blessed!

May 28, 2006... Where do I start?  Lili is three now and is certainly trying for some independence.  She is testing me and boy - I think I'm flunking!!!  No... well, maybe sometimes!  We're having a great time.  She is strong-willed, smart, athletic, funny, kind, loving, and did I mention strong-willed?!?!  She is her own person!!!  It's difficult at times, but I have to step back and say, "It's what we wanted!"  It's hard to remember that when she's running away yelling "No Way!"  Ahhh... I know it'll be gone in an instant.  I try to always treasure her and cherish our time together.  She is speaking quite clearly and asking all sorts of questions.  I'm very proud of her and I know she is meant for big things in this world.  I am blessed!!!

July 28, 2006... Lili has been addicted to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!  She can sing the entire Oompa Loompa song - and does ALL the time!  It's soooo cute.
Today she had her monthly blood draw - labs look great!  Anyway, we got home and she brought out her teddy bears and put them one by one in one of the pink hospital tubs we have.  She said, "The bear has to go to the doctor.  You need to give it a poke."  She then handed me a fork and a knife from her tea set and held their arm.  I gave them pokes and she would pretend cry for them and afterwards she would say (something she's heard me and a million nurses say a bizillion times), "You're such a brave bear.  Good job, bear.  You're brave."  It was sad... sweet... honest... her reality.  It's so wild to see the growth in such little moments sometimes.  She's amazing!!!

September 18... Lili stills likes Willy Wonka, but has recently become obsessed with the Wizard of Oz.  She loves the movie and listens to the Broadway version (in which my former boss, Lara Teeter, is the Scarecrow) in the car AND in the house.  She likes listening to it on the radio, which is fun.  We've also been listening to Free To Be You And Me lately.  She LOVES to sing and is extremely vocal... non-stop talking from waking til sleeping!  She's busy, bossy, funny... super fun and frustrating all at the same time!  I am blessed - she makes me laugh A LOT!!!

September 19... Lili took little bits and ATE 4 fruit snacks yesterday!!!  Then today she had a couple more and ATE 1 1/2 fruit roll up sheets!!!  She wants to go to school and we told her she has to chew and swallow food before she goes.  It's working!  Yay Lili!!!

October 30... Lili likes to role play.  I'm either Auntie Em, Dorothy, the Scarecrow or the Tin Man.  She assigns everyone a role and then likes to re-enact the show.  Ga and I took Lili and her cousin, Hunter, to see The Wizard of Oz on-stage at the Temple Theatre in Saginaw.  They enjoyed it.  Lils sang all of the songs and recited some of the dialogue.  She knows the show completely - songs and dialogue!  She is super funny and we have a great time playing together!  She does have an attitude and shows it!  I'll say the same thing that Ga used to say about me... "She's a natural director!"

December 1, 2006... Lili started getting into the Little Mermaid.  She's still into Willy Wonka and Wizard of Oz, but just moving into other things.  We put up the Christmas tree yesterday.  She's VERY excited for Santa Claus to come.  It's gonna be a fun Christmas morning this year!  She sill loves McDonald's milkshakes... "Let's go to Old McDonald's - I want banilla!!!"  She's a ton of fun and has a fantastic sense of humor.  We went to a puppet show at the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art) and also got to make a puppet.  They took pictures and in one of the pictures she was picking her nose.  We were laughing so hard and the photographer said, "We're keeping that one and putting it up on the wall!"  It was funny.  Oh... we listen to the Wizard of Oz in the car.  At one point Glenda (the good witch) says, "I'm a little muttled."  Lili said, "She's not a little muttled... she's a big muttled."  She cracks me up!!!  I'm blessed!

April 18, 2007... Lili has been doing many wonderful things.  She is getting taller, smarter, more independent everyday.  She had a wonderful Christmas, Easter, and birthday (I guess I'm a little behind!).  Lili is started to write her letters and numbers.  She really wants to go to school.  Funny that I want to finish school and she wants to start!  Lili and I visited Auntie Michelle, Uncle Cyrus, and cousin Leili at the beginning of March.  We had a great time!  Lili started eating Oreo crisp cookies - she loves them!  She eats them saying, "Watch me.  I'm chewing!"  I think she ate them because Leili didn't want her to.  I'll take it!  Easter was spent at Ga and Papa's.  Good Friday was Lili's birthday.  We had a busy week-end at Ga and Papas.  All of the Michigan grandkids were there.  I made a Blues Clues cake for her... I'll have the pictures up pretty soon I hope.  I asked her if she liked her cake and she said, "No."  Then under her breath she said, "I wanted a Steve Blues Clues cake."  It was hilarious!  She's super funny, talking a ton and really growing up.  She melts me with her smile and makes me forget everything when she laughs.  I'm blessed!

May 25, 2007... Lili is great!  She's saying "Dang!" all the time --- drives me crazy!  She also says, "Dag-nub-it!" That kinda makes me laugh!  She always wants to help me do whatever it is that I'm doing.  I try to take those as teaching moments instead of nuisance moments.  Lili's looking forward to swimming this summer - I want to try to get her lessons.  She caught her first fish with Papa in Ga and Papa's pond mother's day week-end. She caught some blue gill and a couple perch.  (We always throw them back in!)  We had to dig up our worms first... she loved it!  And we found these HUGE tadpoles!  I'll try to get the photos up soon.  She's eating a little more - still taking baby steps.  It'll come.  She makes me laugh all the time (unless she screaming and whinning, which she LOVES to do - and all 4 year-olds!!!)  Lili is my love!

June 7, 2007... Today is Lili's 3 year kidney transplant anniversary! (And Auntie Robyn and Uncle Adam's 4 year wedding anniversary!!!)  Lili is doing wonderfully!  She has been with her daddy since Monday and he took her to see Shrek 3.  She's been watching Shrek 2 non-stop lately, so I knew she would be excited to go.  He said that she had a great time - he only had to take her to the bathroom twice!  She told me, "Yeah... it was cool.  And I ate popcorn!"  I'm not sure about that part, but maybe she tasted it!  She did, however, eat 2 french fries yesterday.  Bruce took her to McDonald's and she had to eat a french fry before she could get her milkshake.  She said, "Ok."  And continued to eat 2 french fries!!!  Chewed and swallowed!!!  Yippies!  I won't be long and she'll be eating mac and cheese!  I am sad not to be with her today, but am thrilled that she is getting to spend some time with her daddy.  It also gives me some time to reflect on the past 3 years... what a ride!  We are so blessed!  Thank you again, for all of your support, love, and prayers throughout this journey.  xoxo

July 31, 2007... Lili is doing wonderfully!  She is starting to eat more food.  She declared the other morning, "I'm going to eat real food."  Hopefully once she starts preschool in the fall it her eating will increase even more.  I'm feeling pretty good about it.  We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but we're making baby steps!
The other day in the car she said, "Look, Mommy, a fountain."  I turned around and looked at her she said, "I'm not a fountain!"  She makes me laugh!!!

October 19, 2007... Lili has started preschool and LOVES it!  She cries when she has to leave.  She has started telling Knock-Knock jokes.  Her latest one was "Knock-Knock. Who's There? Banana.  Banana Who?  Banana Underwear!"  Then she just makes 'em up from there.  I started the "Knock-Knock.  Who's There?  Banana. Banana Who?  Knock-Knock. Who's There? Banana. Banana Who?  Knock-Knock. Who's There? Orange. Orange Who? Orange you glad I didn't say Banana?!?!"  She cuts me off after the third Who's There and laughs, but then finishes out the joke.  She added her own version... I was driving and about had to pull over cuz I was laughing sooooo hard!  It went like this... "Knock-Knock.  Who's There? Banana.  Banana Who?  Truck glad I didn't say Banana?!?!?!"  It was HI-LARIOUS!!! She's awesome... I'm definitely blessed.

May 21, 2008... We have been SOOOOO busy - sorry it's been so long!  I graduated in December and then we moved in with Bruce January 21st and got our own place in April 1st.  I've been busy painting walls and getting us settled in.  Lili has been busy helping the teachers in her preschool class.  They all say how smart she is!  I'm VERY proud of her!!!  She is also... get this... EATING PIZZA!!!!!!  We are so happy and can't wait to get rid of that stinkin' tube!  Lili is also drawing ALL the time and just today subtracted!  I told her she had to take 5 bites of her beefaroni... she said, "I've taken 2, so I have 3 left, right?!?!"  She is wonderful.  I am blessed.

June 23, 2008... Lili and I just got back from Washington DC.  We were there advocating for children's health care with the National Association of Children's Hospitals.  Mott sponsored our trip and we had a wonderful time!  Pictures are on the way!  I did put up some websites you should check out on the News Coverage page.  We are blessed!!!